Man who killed himself in standoff was facing sex crime charges, Lexington police say
The man who was barricaded inside a Midlands home before killing himself Sunday was facing charges for sexually assaulting a child for nearly a decade, the Lexington Police Department said Monday.
The standoff between Allen Russell Meadows and law enforcement officers began Saturday afternoon and lasted more than 24 hours, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said.
The incident ended Sunday, when the Lexington Police Department’s Emergency Services Team made entry into the Cherry Hall Drive home and found Meadows’ body, according to SLED.
The 52-year-old Lexington resident died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said.
The incident began Saturday, when officers went to the home within two blocks of East Main Street to follow up on a possible sexual assault involving a minor, police said.
Meadows asked the officers why they were there and then immediately closed the door, refusing to come out, police said. He told the officers he wanted to die by suicide, and admitted he had a weapon, according to police.
For the next 25-plus hours, crisis negotiations team officers talked with Meadows over the phone in an effort to reach a “safe resolution to this incident for all involved,” police said.
While the negotiation was going on, detectives met with a teenage victim who said that there had been an ongoing series of sexual assaults involving Meadows that began when the victim was 8 years old and continued over the past nine years, according to police.
With that information, police said warrants for second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and solicitation of a minor were written up and signed by a judge.
The charges were never filed.
After Meadows’ body was discovered, Lexington Police Chief Terrence Green asked SLED to lead an investigation into the incident and process the crime scene.
SLED said its investigators have no information that any law enforcement officer fired any shots during the incident. The investigation is ongoing.
During the incident, police restricted access to the neighborhood, and some residents were asked to leave their homes. At about 8 p.m. Sunday, police reported all evacuated residents could return to their homes.
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